Select Small Caps Buck the Downward Trend

Stocks are trading lower Tuesday afternoon following a disappointing retail sales report and anticipation of upcoming earnings reports that will help provide further insight into the economy’s health.

At 11:42 am ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) is down 8.41, or 1.8%, at 459.64, while the Dow is down 0.84% and the S&P 500 is down 0.88%.

This morning the Commerce Department reported that retail sales fell 1.1% in March — the biggest decline in three months and a much weaker showing than the 0.3% increase that analysts expected.

Small caps bucking the trend today include Dendreon Corporation (Nasdaq:DNDN), up a stunning 135% after its Provenge prostate cancer treatment met its key goal in prolonging survival in men with advanced prostate cancer. Also climbing higher is Phoenix Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:PTEC), up 35% after Roth upgraded the small-cap software company to “buy” from “hold.”

******"Given the challenging fundamental backdrop in the global economy, we continue to be cautious about the near-term outlook for our businesses …"

That’s what Goldman Sachs CFO had to say after it posted pretty good earnings numbers on Monday. Of course, no one in the banking sector in his or her right mind is going to say things are great. But numbers are one thing, actions are another.

Goldman earned $1.66 billion in the first quarter, or $3.39 a share. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.64 a share. Goldman essentially blew the numbers out of the water, like Wells Fargo.

But here’s the sticky point: Goldman said it will repay its $10 billion in TARP . . .

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